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One of the Top 35 Big Ideas [3] - as voted down from 1,000 - is supporting affordable child care.

A lack of access to affordable child care in Toronto is a barrier for working families, who thusly cannot realize their economic potential or gain full employment. Access to affordable child care benefits children, parents, employers and businesses.

Read about what transpired [2] on our Big Ideas live chat Tuesday, July 29, with Martha Friendly, director of the Childcare Resource and Research Unit, an early childhood education and child care (ECEC) policy research institute. Friendly answered readers' questions about workplace child care, unlicensed daycares, a national child-care program and the obstacles standing in the way of affordable child care. Reporter Rachel Mendleson moderated the chat.